Black Sand and Bananas

By Elizabeth Johnstone

In January 2017, we spent a week in La Palma on a Thomson package holiday. La Palma is one of the lesser known Canary Islands. It has chosen to remain low-key, restricting the construction of high-rise holiday developments.  We found it to be charming and full of interest.  We travelled by train to Gatwick airport from our home in Hertfordshire, spending the night in the clean and cosy Premier Inn before our punctual morning flight.  Returning was less straightforward.  A forecast of snow in the London area held flights on runways all over Europe. Our plane stood on the tarmac for nearly two hours, so we were too late for our scheduled train journey home.  There was no room at the Premier Inn so we ended up using a different train company and an expensive taxi for the last leg.

But let us gloss over such unpleasantness.  We stayed at the Hacienda San Jorge in the village of Los Cancajos, a short drive from the airport and only a couple of miles from the island’s capital, Santa Cruz.  Our “room” was effectively a two-room apartment with double aspect over pool and ocean.  The accommodation blocks are set in beautiful gardens of which the hotel is so proud that guided tours are arranged.  We arrived in the evening of 5 January, as did the Three Kings en route to Bethlehem.  To clarify: Spanish Christmas is traditionally on 6 January, when Spanish children receive presents brought by the Magi.  These days, they are quite happy to receive presents on 25 December as well, but it meant for us that 6 January was a public holiday.

Los Cancajos has several attractive coves with full beach facilities, although you have to accept that they have black, volcanic sand. As I had booked bed and breakfast, we worked our way through the local restaurants.  I adore fish restaurants – my favourite source of protein, and someone else deals with the fins and scales – and they did not disappoint.  A local speciality is papas arrugadas, or “wrinkly potatoes”, cooked in their jackets in heavily salted water and extremely tasty as a result. And the native dwarf banana was well in evidence.
We took a local bus into Santa Cruz, packed like sardines after pickups outside the principal hotels.  The island’s capital has considerable charm, a fact not lost on the cruise companies who dock their leviathans several times a week.  The islanders shrug, take the money and are grateful that the visitors return to their cruise ships at the end of the day.  The city’s flower-bedecked balconies are a great photo opportunity, as is the replica of Columbus’ Santa Maria, paid for by returning emigrés.

Our first excursion was a day trip around the eastern side of the island.  We visited a splendid village house and a spectacular viewpoint dominated by a statue of a shepherd “vaulting”.  After minuscule samples at a rum distillery, we enjoyed lunch in a picturesque village where I was amazed to see flowerbeds planted up with poinsettias.  Like so many of us, I have never nurtured poinsettias more than a couple of weeks after Christmas.  They are everywhere in municipal planting in La Palma and can even be seen as tall, spindly bushes out in the wild.  Banana plantations cover much of the island and there are 7,000 banana farmers.  We were bombarded with facts about their life cycle and economic importance.  Our final stop was the cool, dank rain forest of Los Tilos, kept moist not by rain but by condensation from the mountain tops.

Our second excursion headed to the 2,400m high Roque de los Muchachos and its observatories.  La Palma is the site of several world-class telescopes, including our own Isaac Newton Group.  The site is very highly situated and enjoys low atmospheric and light pollution. It is second only to Hawaii as a pre-eminent astronomical observation site in the northern hemisphere.  The restrictions on tourist development are to protect the observatories and the revenue stream they generate.  After other scenic stops, the trip concluded with a view into the caldera, or extinct volcanic centre, of the island’s mountains. 

La Palma is the most westerly of the Canary Islands and so most exposed to the Atlantic and its changeable weather.  We wore shorts most days, but it was chilly by the evening.  At times, it was warm and sunny enough for the beach but it drizzled on occasion.  As you might expect, in January it was a destination for the more mature travellers, most of whom were Germans. Unlike its larger neighbours, La Palma does not depend on tourism.  Agriculture is more important. 

La Palma is a delightful destination. If you are a banana enthusiast, it is a must!  Although a steep volcanic island, La Palma’s extensive terraced cultivation means that a huge area is given over to banana plantations.  There are some 7,000 banana farmers on the island.  Apparently, it is a relatively easy fruit to manage. It only requires simple tools although there is the laborious process of trimming the blossoming ends off each individual banana as well as managing pests.  But several crops can be grown in a year and clever crop rotation ensures that the farmer is not overwhelmed during one intensive harvest season.

As the banana plant has no woody tissue, it is technically a herb.  It is also a feminist fruit! Only female plants are involved.  There is no male input.  If you look at a typical banana plant, there is usually an ancient stump, a vigorous main shoot and a new side shoot i.e. a decayed “grandmother”, an active “mother” and an up-and-coming “daughter”.  It is almost impossible to acquire banana plantations other than by inheritance or marriage.  A banana heiress is the most desirable girl on the island!•

 First published in VISA 132 (April 2017)

Lost in Spain

By Patrick Cavanagh

The tiny stone-built villages of Escalona, Buerbe and Vío are just a few kilometres apart, but the road which connects them is almost 25km long with some of the sharpest and scariest hairpin bends you could imagine. The rocky path joining Buerbe and Vío is only suited and safe for the most sure-footed and agile – and then only when the weather is dry and there is no ice. Over the centuries many people taking this short cut were seriously injured when loose, razor-sharp rocks and ice or wet meant they lost their footing. 

High up in the Spanish Pyrenees, life has always been very hard, and people have learned to be self-reliant. There is little point in hoping that some civil servant in faraway Madrid, sitting at a desk passing the hours until finishing time, will have the needs of tiny villages such as Escalona, Buerbe and Vío foremost on her mind. ‘Old’ Diego, and his wife ‘Old’ Maria realised this, and thought they might be able to do something about it. Diego bought a mule. He used this mule to ferry people between Buerbe and Vío. The animal was surprisingly sure-footed, and as it had grown up on the mountains, was hardy and learned to eat anything green. Good grass is a scarce commodity high up in the Pyrenees.

 Almost fifty years later, ‘Young’ Diego (now in his late 70s) is still carrying on the tradition, along with his wife ‘Young’ Maria. The official one-way fare is €2, but lots of people don’t have to pay. The doctor or the priest never need pay when making a call, nor do older or sick people. Diego, of course, knows everyone in the area and decides who can or can’t (or should) pay. His decision is final. Last June a French tourist fell on the sharp rocks, twisting her ankle badly, and was charged the maximum fee for a special call-out - €5. For that €5 she was collected from where she had fallen on the track, taken to the doctor’s house, then to the nurse’s clinic, and later back to the hostel where she was staying. Unfortunately, by the time you read this, the mule service will be no more as Diego is retiring and no one wants to take over. 

My daughter works with a Canadian engineer called Brian. Brian was getting married to a local Vío girl. My daughter, her husband and I were invited (I was working near Barcelona at the time). The newly-weds will live in Vío and are going to renovate the 17th century church and make it into a community centre (with the altar behind a curtain when not in use). 
The wedding was held in a field 1500 metres from Vío with some of the most spectacular views of snowy mountain tops, sunshine any every shade of green, grey, brown and black you could imagine. A million butterflies of all colours and sizes gatecrashed the ceremony and filled the air with a gentle whirring of their wings. An eagle slowly and majestically flew in large circles overhead keeping a sharp eye on the proceedings. In the distance goats with bronze bells around their throats kept up a continuous clanking sound as they deftly searched the rocks for that scarce juicy grass. 

Young Diego told me that sometimes people would take extraordinary risks during the war to cross the Pyrenees from occupied France to (theoretically) neutral Spain. Many of them were suffering terribly from injuries sustained, sickness or from frostbite. Local tradition was that anyone who arrived in need of help would be helped as much as possible, with no questions asked. Earlier in summer 2014 a 80+ year old Canadian veteran from World War II – obviously a very fit old man – made the trek over the Pyrenees to Vío and donated a substantial sum of money to the people of the village who had unhesitatingly risked their lives helping him recover from his arduous journey 60 years earlier. Some of this money was going to be spent on renovating the old church and converting it to a community centre. 

There is just one shop in Vío. They sell everything you can imagine, and what is not in stock can be ordered. Many tourists use the town as a base for serious walks into the mountains, where the paths are marked with coloured arrows painted on larger rocks. 

From time to time someone who is unprepared for the journey heads off into the mountains and gets injured. Everyone setting out is reminded to make sure to notify someone in the town of their planned walk and expected return – there are several signs erected during the summer months in prominent places around Vío. They should carry a fully-charged mobile phone; have a whistle and a waterproof torch. They should be prepared for any kind of horrible weather that can change in a few minutes from bright warm sunshine to sub-zero snow and sleet. 

Nevertheless people get stuck on the mountain, usually by hurting themselves on an area of the slippery sharp rocks, by not taking suitable precautions against getting lost, and then a search party must be called out. On average one tourist dies on the mountain each year, often because of inadequate preparation. 

The people are so nice to visitors who come and stay at the hostel. Many visitors brave the terrifying road in from Escalona and walk, cycle or even drive down this incredible piece of early 19th century engineering – every rock, every stone from which the road was constructed was moved by human or animal power. Escalona, Buerbe and Vío have fullspeed wifi in the hostels, mobile phones work with full-strength signals, and you can expect all the mod cons such as clean running water, reliable electricity, and a selection of free and pay TV channels. 

Many visitors come from outside Spain so locals in the hospitality business have learned bits of English, French, German, Dutch and various Scandinavian languages. For example, Young Diego worked in Florida during the early 1960s and speaks English with a distinct American twang. Young Maria worked in Germany for some years and speaks what she describes as ‘tourist German’. Their eldest son, also Diego, is a civil engineer working in Argentina, but plans to retire to Vío in about 10 years’ time. He bought a field, planted it with hardy grapes, and comes home each year for a month or so to tend to his crop. He hopes to make and sell enough costa, the local rough red wine, to pay for his old age. Tourists are never offered costa as the flavour and strength vary enormously from year to year and even from field to field – it is for local consumption only. Locals fear tourists would be put off by the sight of wine being served from a bucket! 

Escalona, Buerbe and Vío are really nice places with really nice people. However, Buerbe and Vío, in particular, are very inaccessible places, and no matter what mode of transport you choose to get there, allow lots of extra time. Locals told me there are 200 hairpin bends on the road, and most of them have nothing to stop you falling off the edge into the abyss. 
At each bend in the road be prepared for views that will blow your mind and distract you from your driving. Be prepared to pass el enferno (not of flame or smoke, but of a mountain river blasting through a gap, tossing up spray that soaks everyone who stops to investigate, and making so much noise that you have to scream into the other person’s ear). Look out for eagles with their leisurely effortless flight. Maybe a million butterflies might distract you from your worldly worries! 

First published in VISA 118 (December 2014)

Spanish Grand Tour

By David Whiting

We marvelled at Madrid's monumental Plaza Mayor, a square dating from the early 17th century. Small shops and cafes line the arcades. We walked to the Puerta del Sol, site of a former gate, from which all distances in Spain are measured; and past the parliament buildings. We returned past the house where the writer Cervantes (1547-1616) lived and died: he died on the same day as Shakespeare.

Plaza de Espana, Seville (photo: Helen Matthews)

We returned through the Plaza Mayor as far as the 16th century Royal Palace, which has a fine panoramic view of the valley below. King Juan Carlos lives in a palace called La Zarzuela, but uses the royal palace on state occasions. Then to the adjacent cathedral before continuing to the monumental victory arch at the Puerta de Toledo (Toledo Gate).

On a sightseeing tour, we passed El Prado, with the world's best collection of Classical paintings, including Spanish, Flemish and Italian artists. Then the Parque de Retiro and Columbus Square; the Columbus Statue was erected in 1685. We stopped at the bullring, built in 1020, which has 27,000 seats. In ancient times, bulls were allowed to run in city squares. Adjacent is the statue of Dr Alexander Fleming, erected in gratitude for his discovery of penicillin, which saved the lives of many injured bullfighters. Another stop was in a square which has a lovely statue of Cervantes overlooking Don Quixote and his good and faithful servant, Sancho Panza.
We visited Toledo on a day trip from Madrid. This city was founded around 4000 BC on a naturally fortified site, overlooking the River Tajo (Tagus), which flows to the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon. In AD 711 Arabs (Moors) conquered Spain; they were the most scholarly people of the time and had huge libraries. Around AD 900 craftsmen from Damascus came to Toledo to introduce their damasquino metalwork. Their tradition of making knives and swords is still maintained here. Toledo has changed very little since medieval times; the streets are often narrow and steep.

We visited the splendid cathedral, which has 750 stained-glass windows - half are original. The cathedral treasury contains many crosses made with precious jewels and other religious relics, as well as a 13th century Bible of St Louis (Louis IX of France). The cathedral was founded on the site of the first temple here (5th century) in 1227, but is mostly 14/15th century, finished in 1496. The cathedral is beautifully decorated, especially the choir, with its high reliefs in stone and wood. The magnificent brightly coloured late 15th century retable depicts 24 steps in Jesus's life.

The Sacristy contains numerous works by El Greco, Van Dyck and other artists. El Greco came to Toledo in 1575 after a request in Venice for foreign painters to come to Toledo to paint works for the monastery. We visited a small gallery, part of a church showing El Greco' s chief masterpiece, the burial of El Conde de Orgaz (Burial of the Count of Orgaz).

From Madrid, we headed northwards, stopping in Segovia, once an important Roman city, before continuing to Burgos. We saw the tomb of El Cid in Burgos Cathedral, which was founded in 1221. 

El Cid was born Rodrigo Diaz in the nearby village of Viler. He fought first on the side of the Spanish before changing sides and fighting with the Moors, who named him Sidi, meaning Lord. Later he changed sides again, helping Spain to reconquer Valencia, where he died. His body was finally brought here in 1942.
Nearer to Bilbao, where the rainfall is greater, the fields and trees are greener. Coniferous forests cover the mountainsides, reminiscent of the Tirol. We entered the Basque region to spend the night in Bilbao. It is now famous for its Guggenheim Museum, built in 1997 at a cost of $100 million, looks like a ship and was made of titanium. Outside the front entrance of the Guggenheim is a 'puppy' around 10 metres high, covered in a wide variety of flowers.

We spent a night in Pamplona, famous for an annual festival in July, when bulls are chased through the medieval city streets. Ernest Hemingway wrote about this festival, the Encierro, in his novel The Sun Also Rises. We explored the city, visiting the cathedral, which is mainly plain brick but has several highly decorated chapels and a fine altar. It also contains the tomb of Charles III who founded the cathedral in 1416.
Our next stop was Zaragoza, founded in 14 BC, Spain's 5th largest city and the capital of Aragon. The artist Goya was born here. The huge Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Pilar was built on the spot where the Virgin Mary appeared to St James (the patron saint of Spain) and ordered him to build a church. The present basilica, dating from 1677, has some very rich decoration and a small museum contains jewelled clerical garments, chalices etc, and paintings by Goya. Some Roman fortifications are visible.

Entering Barcelona, we passed the two great towers of the Placa Espana, marking the entrance to the site of the 1929 World Exposition. We continue to Montjuic, named after a medieval Jewish cemetery on the hill; many Jews came to Spain after the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, 70 AD. Below it is the Poble Espanyol, a 'medieval' town of Spanish buildings created for the Expo 1929.

We drove through the botanical gardens, with tropical plants and cacti from Spain, Central and South America. We descended to the port, which is overlooked by a statue, erected in 1880, of Christopher Columbus, who sailed from here to America in 1492.

Picasso studied at Barcelona's Academy of Fine Arts, now the Stock Exchange. Nearby are several large sections of the medieval fortifications. We walked to the cathedral, completed in 1913, although the foundations contain Roman and other ancient stones; there were many beggars on the cathedral steps. The cathedral contains beautifully decorated chapels: I wonder if modem cathedrals will last as long as those built centuries ago? Two years ago, one of the King's daughters was married in this cathedral. She works in a nearby bank, which we pass.

The 1920s bullring is decorated with blue and white tiles, typical of Spain. The bullfight season had finished and there was a circus in the building. We then made a short stop at the Temple de la Sagrada Familia, begun in 1884 by local architect Antonio Gaudi. He died in 1926 (run over by a tram) without leaving any plans for the unfinished church and work stopped until it was decided to recommence in 1940. It is expected to be finished around 2050. Parts of the church were damaged in the Civil War in 1936.

The tomb of Gaudi is in the crypt. The church can be visited by tourists, as can the Gaudi museum in one section of it, but we did not have time. Mila House (1906), another of Gaudi's works, looks like a cliff of the Costa Brava with 60 balconies. His buildings are totally surreal; it's hard to believe his audacity!
We also visited Montserrat ("serrated mountain") and its Benedictine monastery, founded in the 9th century. A Black Madonna was found there in the 12th century, as a result of which it became an important place of pilgrimage. It was rebuilt after being damaged by Napoleon's troops in 1812. It has a remarkable position on a sheer cliff, 100 metres above the valley floor and there are tremendous panoramic views.

When I came here in 1974, the Catalan language was banned under Franco. Now it is the first language. Montserrat attracts an enormous number of tourists and is seriously over-commercialised. Cable cars and walks are provided for the more adventurous to explore the mountains. We took the motorway towards Valencia.
Some rice is grown in this part of Spain. In fact, Valencia is where Spain's national dish, paella, originated. Valencia is Spain's third largest city and is surrounded by orange groves and ceramics factories. The city was captured from the Moors by El Cid in 1094; he died here in 1099.

We arrived late in the afternoon at our hotel and took a bus to the centre where, drinking a beer near the cathedral, there was a sudden series of fireworks and a great explosion, announcing a wedding inside. After the wedding party left, another arrived for the ceremony in one of the chapels. The whole city was awakened by a fireworks display at 12.45 am, evidently part of the wedding celebrations!

We crossed La Mancha, by-passing the city of Albacete (from Arabic Al Basite, the Plain), surrounded by agricultural plains and famous for the manufacture of knives and scissors. The drive along county roads through small towns, all very quiet, amongst vast panoramas of olive trees, was very pleasant. The picking season starts at the end of November. On the approach to Cordoba, the olive groves alternated with cotton fields. Immigrant workers, often from Morocco, come here at harvest times, and there are numerous signs in Arabic.
Cordoba, with a population of 320,000, was an important city under the Romans and Moors; it was founded in 152BC and used to contain over 1,000 mosques. Cordoba's medieval Arabic walls, built on Roman foundations, are complete and form the back walls of many later houses and shops. Some columns have been re-erected on the original foundations of the Roman temple, 14-15 AD. A partly Roman bridge still carries traffic over the River Guadalquivir. The land was recaptured from the Arabs in 1236 and the Mezquita (mosque) was converted into a cathedral. TIle minaret was incorporated into the 16th century cathedral tower; some of the Arabic arches were opened out in the 15th century so that Gothic arches now support the cathedral.

The mosque, formerly the second largest after that at Mecca, was built for 25,000 people. It was the only mosque not correctly aligned to face Mecca. There are hundreds of red and white striped arches and granite and marble columns brought from Arab lands. The cathedral, built 1523-1628, seats only 300 people. The choirstalls and organs were added in 1750.

We walked through some of the ancient lanes and courtyards, with their pretty trees, in the Arab and Jewish quarters. Ferdinand and Isabella prepared for the conquest of Granada in Cordoba. In 1492 they promised Columbus help to get to India, the land of spices, by sailing westwards, as all the lands eastwards were in the hands of the Arabs.

Next stop was Seville. One evening, after dinner, we attended a colourful flamenco show, near the bull ring, in El Patio Sevillano; on the way we passed the former cigarette factory where Bizet's character Cannen worked. The lOO-minute performance comprised dancing to taped and live music. Immense concentration is required for the stamping of feet and heels and the clicking of castanets. The tunes included Granada and Carmen. The costumes are sumptuous; the smart caballeros and the senoritas in their colourful frilly dresses. Flamenco has gypsy and Arab roots and is a medium for the dancers to express their emotions. It is a serious art; will the same be said about rock and roll and break dancing in 50 years? The city is the host for an annual flamenco festival, which attracts around ten million visitors.

We stopped at the beautiful Plaza de Espana, built 1917-1929 for the 1929 World Exposition. Lovely pictures on the walls represent historical events and the various Spanish provinces in alphabetical older. The building now contains Government offices.

Near to the Alcazar (fortress) is the Archive of the Spanish exploration and discovery of South America, containing some 82 million documents. The present Alcazar is the fifth on the site since the first building, a 1st century BC Roman fortress. This building, 1350-1309, was built by Moslems for the Christian rule, and unique in that respect. It is the winter residel1ce of Spain's royal family when in We walked through medieval lanes to the Plaza de Santa Cruz where painter Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1617-62) was buried, marked by a 17th century cross on the site of a church which no longer exists. As we were about to leave the square, another group arrived, accompanied by a minstrel! We passed the house where Murillo lived, now open to the public.

The cathedral was originally built (1184-1198) as a mosque. Two thirds of the minaret and a courtyard of the original remain. The minaret was incorporated into the tower, 98 metres high, known as La Giralda after the weather vane weighing one-and-a-half tons on top. This building was mainly erected in 1434-1517. Two massive pillars are being dismantled as cracks have been found in them; temporary scaffolding is being noisily erected and it is hoped the work will be complete in six months. The monumental tomb of Christopher Columbus stands at one side of the cathedral although three other places claim to have his body. His descendants have now agreed to DNA tests to prove once and for all where he is buried. Opposite his tomb is a grand altar used in the annual procession through the city.

Jerez de la Frontera is famous for the breeding of horses and the production of sherry. The soil here is chalky, ideal for the grapes required. These grapes were introduced into this area by the Phoenicians in the 11th century BC. We visited the Gonzalez Byass Aodega (wine cellars), where Tio Pepe sherry and other brands are produced. The bodega is close to the town's Moorish fortress. The bodega was established in 1835.
We were welcomed in a conch-shaped hall, with barrels bearing the name of every nation to which Tio Pepe sherry is exported. The cellars contain many barrels (amply) dedicated to or autographed by celebrities, including heads of state from many countries, sportsmen etc. There is a small museum, with old bottles and barrels etc.
We drove along the Ruta del Toro, named after the many ranches where fighting bulls are raised. In some parts of Spain, the barbaric so-called sport of bullfighting is gaining fierce opposition, like fox-hunting in Britain. Perhaps soon, both "sports" will be extinct. The land approaching Gibraltar is covered with much woodland and is sparsely populated. We entered Gibraltar through the border town of La Linea.

The entrance to Gibraltar is across the airport runway, controlled by traffic lights. We opted for a 90 minute taxi tour, costing £10 each. British money is interchangeable with Gibraltarian money; Spanish money is equally accepted. The main industries are tourism and philately. The coach park is on reclaimed land. The local taxi-bus took us past the British-built sea defence walls, then past the scene in the 1980s when three IRA members were killed by members of the UK's Special Branch.

There is a vast system of tunnels inside the limestone rock, which was used in World War Two when they housed hospitals, generators and so on. During the war, the entire population could retire into the tunnels. We passed the entrance to a tunnel where, in 1942 Montgomery organized the offensive in North Africa; it is now NATO property. We stopped at Europa Point, near Europe's most southerly mosque, built by the King of Saudi Arabia for the small Arab community of Gibraltar. At this point is the Last Shop in Europe, originally built in 1844 as a magazine to store ammunition; it became a shop in 1965.

We drove up to the Upper Rock area, a protected part. We visited St Michael's Cave, known since Roman times. It was converted into a hospital in World War Two (but never used) and is a cave system; one cave is as large as a cathedral. We also encountered some of the 300 apes, which are wild and dangerous. They will eat anything that remotely looks like food, and they constantly climb on (and if possible into) vehicles. Crossing from Spain into Gibraltar is a simple business, but crossing back into Spain we all had to leave the coach and carry our hand luggage across the border. We headed inland to Granada.

Granada has around 250,000 inhabitants, augmented by some 2.4 million visitors to the Alhambra each year. Although Granada is one of Europe's hottest cities, it has plenty of water as there is snow in the Sierra Nevada for most of the year. The Alhambra (meaning Red Castle) was built by the Moors in the 14th century on the site of a 3000-year-old Iberian settlement, later a Roman town.

The walls of the Alhambra are covered with Arabic patterns and inscriptions from the Koran. The ceiling of the Ambassador's Salon is said to consist of 8,017 pieces of wood, the same number as the verses in the Koran. The Arabs were so technically advanced that they did not use screws, nails or adhesive. The proportions are symmetrical and perfect.

After the Moors were ejected from Spain, Emperor Charles V built a palace in the grounds of the Alhambra in 1526. He ruled an Empire larger than the Roman Empire. Part of the city of the Alhambra was mined by Napoleon's army. Washington Irving wrote his Tales of the Alhambra in Charles V's palace in 1829.
After visiting the Alhambra we walked round the Generalife Gardens, originally built as a private park for the Sultan, although its present Italianate gardens date from after 1492.

After lunch, we walked along The River Barro, past ancient Moorish fortifications and into medieval quarters of narrow steep streets, from where there are grand views of the Alhambra.
The Capilla Real (Royal Chapel), built 1506-1521, contains the tombs of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who wished to be buried on the site of their victory over the Arabs; their coffins are in the crypt beneath their tombs. The adjacent museum contains Isabella's crown and mace, her personal art collection and other treasures. The altarpiece is very colourful and beautiful.

Finally, we visited the Cathedral, which contains an exhibition of religious art and artefacts and a second exhibition concerning Charles V and the city of Granada, with pictures, documents and other objects. There is atmospheric mediaeval background music to take the visitor back in time. Some of the cathedral's beautiful chapels are obscured, but there is a fine organ.

First published in VISA issue 40 (spring 2001)

The Alhambra

by Glen Strachan

Some older (or perhaps I should say longer established) members of the SIG might remember that I was a fairly regular contributor to VISA some years ago. Since my wife Flora and I spent so many years living in the beautiful mountain city of Oaxaca in southern Mexico - and I did write one piece extolling the virtues of that fabulous part of the world - there was little travelling to write about and so I have been absent from this magazine for a long time.

But life changes and after a distinctly scary encounter with the old Grim Reaper in late 2008 which fortunately was concluded with a temporary reprieve for both of us, we decided to come back to Europe for a while and travel around a continent that was our home for more than forty years before we developed a taste for tropical living. Now based in Spain we are picking off some of our outstanding travel targets in that part of the world and a little beyond.

If there is one place in Europe that demonstrates, at a glance, the history of the southern part of the continent, it is surely the wonderful old walled palace of Alhambra which sits proudly within the city limits of the present day Granada.

For the casual visitor the very pleasant city of Granada - a university city with all of the style that usually implies - is a bonus and, while Alhambra’s position and presence cannot be matched, time in Granada itself can be spent very pleasantly in a modern city which is safe, quite walkable and boasts some interesting shops and restaurants - particularly the ones in the areas that include large Arabic populations and businesses.

Granada is the capital city of the province that bears the same name, situated in Andalusia, Spain, and it offers the contrast of being 750 metres above sea level yet less than an hour’s drive from the coast and a similar distance from the ski resorts of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The waters from the melting snows on these mountains empty into the three rivers that run through Granada - the Darro being the principal and the most attractive of these.

The clear influence of the area’s Islamic heritage is seen in the clever use of water in the architecture of Granada and that adds another dimension to this lovely part of Spain - sheltered as the city is beneath the towering, white peaks of the Sierra Nevada.

In addition to the itinerant Spanish student population, there is a considerable smattering of settlers from various countries of South America. This cosmopolitan mix ensures that Granada - although boasting the usual representation of up-market High Street stores that can be seen in almost any major town or city across Europe - has enough variety around its shopping areas to make it very interesting. I have to admit that the sole reason for our visit to the area was to visit the Moorish citadel of Alhambra, but a huge bonus from the trip was finding the very smart city that we really enjoyed exploring in Granada itself.

And so on to the Alhambra. One of our better decisions was to go online ahead of this trip and book a tour guide and Alhambra entry tickets, which spared us the delay of getting in line outside and hoping that there were still places available for the more heavily subscribed areas of the citadel.
Second only to the remarkable Prado Museum in Madrid as a much-visited cultural site in Spain, the decision has been taken to be very careful with the fabric of the Alhambra. That has led to restrictions being placed on the numbers of visitors allowed into the more sensitive areas of a very old and, in some ways, fragile building with great beauty, at any given time of day.

That visitor package costs a little more than simply going it alone but, while we will re-visit the Citadel in the future on our own, the guide was a tremendous asset to new visitors - a history graduate who spoke to his little group of about twenty English speakers from all over the world - by microphone to our collection of headphones. He had a fund of stories about the history of the palace and was not in the slightest troubled at being somewhat politically incorrect and frank when discussing the ‘dirty little secrets’ of Spain’s ruling classes and the shameful way they conducted themselves in order to try to keep their financial misdemeanours hidden with pogroms in an effort to avoid their creditors. It was difficult to imagine such a frank analysis being delivered in a public place during the years when the dictator Franco and his stifling established church persecuted anything resembling free speech and anybody ‘foolish’ enough to utter these truths. That was also a reminder that while the history of Civil War and Inquisitions might be fading in the minds of today’s younger generation - more occupied by their concerns over living in a country that is shamed by the highest unemployment rates in the European Community - such events have scarred too deeply to be fully extinguished.The Alhambra today is wonderful and any visitor with an interest in art or politics will find it to be a veritable paradise that amply explains why so many countries - my own birthplace included - offer theatres named after it. The Alhambra of yesterday must have been spell-binding in most if not all of its ‘incarnations’.

I little thought, as a youth, when enjoying these Christmas shows in Glasgow’s Alhambra Theatre - while Spain was still labouring under the control of the ruthless dictator Franco – that I would one day be able to savour the delights of the original palace in a free secular democratic Spain - but such is life. Progress is not always something achieved overnight - but it is nonetheless sweet when it does eventually arrive.

Advice if you choose to make a visit yourself is to wear something comfortable on your feet, take a supply of liquids - especially if you visit in summer - and make sure you have plenty of space on your camera. There are few more enticing targets for the photographer.

You will be fascinated by the accounts of how that part of Spain (roughly the bottom left corner of the Spanish map as we cartographers know it!) was fought over by the forces of Ibero, the Greeks, the Eastern Roman Empire, the Jews and the Moors (remarkably fighting in tandem) before it fell to Castile in alliance with the Nasrids. Five hundred and twenty years ago (2 January 1492) the Muslim ruler Muhammad XII surrendered Granada to the fabled Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I and the Spanish empire building that would eventually bankrupt the monarchy began in earnest.

It is a spine-chilling experience to stand on the very spot where these decisions that had such prodigious repercussions for much of the globe were made. In the rooms of this palace, the funding was put in place and the schedules set for Christopher Columbus to make the explorations that would lead him to sail into the Bahamas, having slightly miscalculated the whereabouts of his intended target, Japan.

While I have tried to give a rather potted version of the features of this remarkable Nasrid palace city, please do not feel that this is simply some dry, bookish trail for historians. Alhambra is so much more than that and very beautiful, too.

If your taste runs to flamenco, it should be added that this part of Spain offers a raw, gypsy version of the dance called zambra. You will be well satisfied with one of the evening shows presented in narrow rooms where you have to be careful as the performers crash their feet down, inches from yours. Even if dance is not your preference, the music from their accompanying singers is worth a visit on its own. These ventures are controlled by long established gypsy families with all the front of house staff, bar tenders etc being retired dancers themselves. This fabulous, unique entertainment should in no way be confused with, or compared to, the rather homogenized form of that dance available in the tourist traps of Madrid.

In short, this was a great trip to start us off on a series of short visits to various Spanish regions and, while the churches which offer sight of the tombs of the Spanish monarchs of the day were rather dull, the Alhambra and the gypsy part of town at night more than sustained our interest.

First published in VISA 101 (Feb 2012)

A Tale of Three Courtyards

By Helen Matthews

Patio del Yesu, Real Alcazar

The pigeons lined up at the edge of the pool, as if daring each other to be the first to take the plunge. Their cooing was the only sound to be heard in the Patio del Yesu. At ten-thirty in the morning, Seville’s Alcazar was surprisingly quiet and free from tourists.

A little further on, in a courtyard surrounded by intricate plasterwork and tiles, it was possible to experience how the Alhambra of Granada might be without the crowds. The Patio de las Doncellas or Maidens’ Courtyard forms the heart of a palace built in the 1360s by King Pedro I of Castile and Leon and the similarity of decorative styles is no coincidence. Although Seville was reconquered more than two centuries earlier than Granada, Pedro formed an alliance with its Muslim ruler, who provided many craftsmen to assist with the work.

From this courtyard, a staircase leads to Alfonso X’s thirteenth century Gothic palace, built over the original Almohad palace. After pausing to admire the tapestries, mere eighteenth-century replicas of originals which were destroyed in an earthquake, I found my way into the gardens.

Fuente de la Fama, Real Alcazar

The first thing I noticed was a large pool fed by water from a former Roman aqueduct, but there is a more intriguing water feature. The Fuente de la Fama has a hydraulic mechanism that is linked to an organ. On the hour, (or just after, this is Spain, after all), the fountain plays a tune. Not a few notes, but a real piece of music. There is an opening round the back of the fountain through which you can see mechanism: organ pipes and giant version of a cylinder from a musical box.

After spending an hour or so exploring the extensive gardens and avoiding the importunate peacock in the café, I returned to the palace, to find the crowds had finally arrived. It was time to move on.

Hungry peacock, Real Alcazar Cafe

 The following day I found myself in another palace with beautiful courtyards and peaceful gardens. Although the Casa de Pilatos is, like the Alcazar, one of the biggest attractions of Seville, a morning visit was remarkably lacking in crowds. Built in three main phases starting in the fifteenth century, it is a little more recent than the Alcazar, but it too is built around a central courtyard, with gardens as appealing as those of the royal palace.

The house is designed for the climate. The layout of the ground and upper floors is identical. The lower floor was inhabited during the hot summer months, with elaborately tiled walls providing a cooling effect. In the winter, the family moved upstairs. The design of the tiles downstairs was meant to resemble the tapestries that lined the walls of the upstairs rooms.

On my third and final day in Seville I found my way to the Museum of Fine Arts. This is not a typical art gallery, as it is located in a former convent. The building dates mainly from the seventeenth century and is built around three peaceful, jasmine-scented courtyards. The interior is for the most part simply decorated, making it more of a shock to arrive at the sumptuous baroque church.

Seville may be famous for bullfighting and flamenco, but I prefer its quieter side: the citrus trees, jasmine and pools of its secluded courtyards.

 First published in VISA 117 (October 2014)

Tales from a Pilgrimage

by Anne Rothwell

We took advantage of the large reductions for over-60s for staying in Paradors, the wonderful state-run hotels in Spain. We stayed in places where the original pilgrims rested en route, originally hospitals, convents and other historic buildings for travellers to take refuge, now luxury hotels.

We came across a fascinating tale when staying in Santo Domingo de la Calzada. The parador was situated in the heart of the old town, away from the traffic and next door to the Cathedral.

In the Cathedral, in a large airy cage, high up and opposite the tomb of Santo Domingo (Saint Dominic), resided a white cock and hen, pecking around happily and crowing occasionally. There had been a white cock and hen there for many centuries (changed every 6 weeks) and they were the symbol of the town.

The reason for this was that, many centuries ago, a young man was making the pilgrimage with his parents and whilst staying in the town, a servant girl tried to seduce him and he refused (shades of Joseph!)

In a fit of pique, she put a silver candlestick in his pack and he was accused of stealing it and hanged. His parents sadly continued their journey and, on the way home, called at the town, went to the scene of his hanging and found him still there, alive! 

They rushed to tell the senior dignitary of the town, who was in the middle of a meal of white capon. He laughed at them and said he was as alive as the chicken he was eating. Whereupon the chicken jumped up and flew around the room. The miracle in this tall story is still celebrated.

The best bit of our pilgrimage was to come in Santiago. I’d read about the Botafumeiro, an enormous incense burner in the Cathedral, which required four monks to get it swinging right across the transept, but I believed only came out on special feast days.

We arrived in Santiago on a Saturday and I went to the Pilgrim’s Mass at noon on the Sunday. The place was packed, including many young people with the traditional staff and its cockle shell emblem, who had actually walked the route (maybe more for the famous walk than for religious reasons) and were greeting others they had met on the journey. After the mass, the incense burner was lowered and swung as the organ rose to a crescendo.

Quite an experience!

First published in VISA issue 68 (August 2006)

Marvellous Malaga

by Eunice Kirby

Last February, our group of four ladies of a certain age went to Porto for our annual ‘girls’ trip. We were very pleasantly surprised with warm sunny weather and spent quite a bit of our time sitting in the sun, down by the river watching the world go by, while we enjoyed the odd cold beverage! This year, then, we again wanted warmth; this limited our choice of cheap flights with the no frills airlines. I eventually told the girls that ‘cheap’ meant Malaga, but it did look to be quite a nice city in its own right - so the flights were booked, a very reasonable city centre hotel was found and off we went. Well, we were pleasantly surprised again! The Hotel Don Curro, which I had nearly disregarded due to it being so reasonable as to be bordering on excessively cheap, was an absolute gem! It was right in the centre of the old city and only yards from the port. My sister and I shared a room on the eighth floor that had the most wonderful view of the Cathedral - an amazing sight when lit up at night. We could not fault the hotel for position, food or decor, and what value! It cost us £137 each for four nights B & B including transfers to and from the airport - at alpharooms.com.

We arrived in the evening, unpacked and had a drink in the hotel bar while deciding what to do the next day. The following morning, after a wonderful breakfast (self-service, with so much choice of both hot and cold), we set off to get our bearings and headed to the port area passing a row of horses and carriages. We thought that these would be expensive, but it was only €40 for the four of us, for a tour of the old city lasting nearly an hour. This was a wonderful way to see what there was and where it all was - we were all surprised to see such a lovely beach area! We then wandered round the old city visiting the Cathedral, or La Maquita (One Armed Lady) as she is known because the north tower stands proudly at 100m (330 ft), while work on its twin tower was stopped in 1783 due to lack of funds and is a forlorn stump. The main shopping area had a good mix of designer and high street shops with a distinct lack of tourist shops – being in a city rather than a tourist resort. We ended the day sitting at a bar on the beach - drying our feet after a paddle!

The following day we caught a local bus along the coast to Marbella where the bus station is situated above the town with no directions or maps or any help whatsoever. We took a taxi down the town, but decided that it was decidedly unwelcoming, so after a drink and a wander along the front we took another taxi to Puerto Banus. How the other half live; we enjoyed seeing the wonderful yachts moored here but said that, even if we all sold up, we wouldn’t be able to afford a dinghy! Still, we enjoyed a very nice meal in one of the harbour side restaurants before getting a taxi back to Marbella bus station and the bus back to Malaga.

The following day we took another bus up to Ronda. Wow - what a gem of a place. The views of the 150m (450 ft) gorge, known as El Tajo, are incredible. How on earth were either of the bridges built? The new one was built as recently as 1788! Ronda is also home to the oldest bullring in Spain which you can visit along with the bullfighting museum. We took a different bus back to Malaga. There are different bus companies and routes; the one we had gone on had taken us along the coast, then up a rather twisty, narrow mountain road through some amazing scenery. It took three hours! The one we took back was a direct, straight and gently sloping road, taking only two hours: a long day, but worth it.

On our last day we went on the ‘hop on, hop off’ bus, so that we knew that we had seen all the main sights of the city, and also because we knew that we could not walk up to the Castillo del Gibralfaro. This principal landmark of Malaga started life as a Phoenician castle which was then reconstructed by the Moors in the 14th century. Its name comes from the Arabic the Jebel al Faro (lighthouse hill), as the Moors also constructed a lighthouse up here. We did a complete circumnavigation of the walls, taking in the panoramic views of the city and port. It also looks down on the Plaza de Toro, and so offers free seating for bullfight enthusiasts. We spent several hours up here enjoying both the views and the weather - we had wonderful sunshine - before getting back on the bus along to Picasso Square, whose real name is Plaza de la Merced. The house where Picasso was born, Casa Natal Picasso, is now a small museum and headquarters of the Picasso Foundation. From here, we walked past the Roman amphitheatre down to the Paseo del Parque where we enjoyed ice creams sitting in the sun. We all enjoyed our visit and were amazed at just how much there is to see and do in Malaga; we only scratched the surface. Most people see it only as an airport serving the Costa del Sol but, if you are in the area, do take time to visit this city as it has a lot to offer. At the moment there is a lot of construction work in progress, both buildings and roads, due to it being the European City of Culture in 2016, but this is mainly near the port and the bus station. The old city is untouched by it all, and is a lovely place to while away a few hours or days. Now - where shall we go next year?

 First published in VISA 91 (Jun 2010)

“¡Arriba la roja! (Up the red!)”

by Elizabeth Johnstone

La roja is the Spanish national football team. You heard their battle cry everywhere in Spain last year. The red, black and yellow flag fluttered proudly from every balcony. As our taxi drove from Málaga Airport to our holiday destination of Nerja, we knew we were in for a treat. Spain was playing in the final of the World Cup the next day and gearing up for the biggest fiesta of the year. I would love to claim we had planned our holiday around the match, but it was merely our good fortune.

Nerja has been a favourite holiday destination of ours for several years now. We have gone self-catering in Calabella apartments, choosing the two-bedroom apartments with their fabulous view over the bay in preference to the one-beds overlooking a noisy pedestrianised street. We booked through Hoseasons in the UK and made our own travel arrangements although, post-ash, I would now go for a package. Living, as we do, not far from Luton airport, it was straightforward to fly to Málaga with easyJet. Part of the treat was not to have a car, so we arranged a taxi transfer from the airport. No car for a fortnight. Bliss. The Rough Guide to Andalucía was our bible, and the staff at the local Turismo were helpful, too. We have been to Nerja three times in a row, so some of my comments refer to experiences in different years.

Although Nerja has expanded like so much of the Spanish coastline, it retains a degree of charm in its casco viejo. A superb feature of the old town is the Balcón de Europa, a perfect venue for the ritual evening paseo. Our apartment balcony looked out over the bay and the Balcón, providing hours of entertainment and people watching.

The apartment was excellently furnished and it was no hardship to knock up delicious lunches and suppers when we just wanted to relax on our own balcony and watch the world go by, accompanied by the plangent sounds of the indigenous South Americans - magnificent in their full feathered head-dresses – playing on the Balcón. And I had a washing machine! At a stroke, the weight of my suitcase was halved, because I knew we didn’t need so many clothes with us.

The most famous feature of Nerja is the Caves, a short bus or taxi journey outside the town. They are massive: one chamber is used as a concert hall. Every year, international artists perform in the Festival of the Caves of Nerja. Last year, Estrella Morente starred; we did not see her in the Caves but I had already seen her in London. Her recent smash hit Volver was the theme of the Almodóvar film of the same name.

Back to Nerja. One of the pleasures of Spain is its restaurants and nightlife. There are too many restaurants to describe individually (and I shall draw a veil over the ‘guaranteed English Sunday roast’ type of establishments) but I must mention a couple. Pacomari  combined super value and tourist-friendly menus with great service in an attractive patio. A set meal with a starter, paella, a dessert and half a bottle of wine for approximately 16 euros was unbeatable. A more Spanish option was El Pulguilla. Facing the main pedestrianised street is a typical Spanish tapas bar, knee deep in used napkins, television blaring in the corner, Spanish people yelling to be heard. But if you walk through to the back, there is a large outside seating area for the seafood restaurant. It was fascinating to watch it filling up from 10pm onwards with noisy Spanish families, complete with baby in the pram/granny in the wheelchair. The food here was not over-elaborate, but so fresh it had only just stopped flapping. The kitchen was open to view and rivalled an operating theatre in its cleanliness and orderliness. We went there many times and enjoyed seabass, sole, razor clams, red mullet and mixed fried seafood, the local speciality.

 Once we found ourselves beside a French couple who rather snootily praised the cuisine, adding ‘Et nous, on est français, on est exigeant.’ (‘And we’re French, we are demanding.’) Make of that what you will. The whole operation was presided over by a human dynamo of a proprietrix who frequently yelled for the hapless ‘Pedro!’

Other nightlife was on offer. We enjoyed the flamenco shows at the Burro Blanco. A very reasonable 5 or 6 euros was added to your first drink, thereafter normal bar prices, for three or four presentations with complete costume changes. There are some photos, now under lock and key, of me joining in on the dance floor towards the end of the evening.

Once, we got chatting to the teachers accompanying an American school trip. The teens were over for a month of intensive culture. A few looked as though they were suffering from culture overload, but some got into the music. I later discovered that their teacher, Tony Orza, had been decorated with the Spanish Ordén del Mérito Civil for his work over the years promoting Spanish culture. A larger than life character, in every sense.

I also loved the bar El Molino with its live music every night. As its name suggests, it was an old mill, and the guitarist sat in the former olive-pressing area which offered a dance floor for the impromptu sevillanas which were often performed by enthusiasts in the audience. A couple of days later, I saw the guitarist bossing the staff around at one of the big beach-front restaurants, so I’m guessing he was the owner who played for the pleasure in the evenings.

The World Cup final was absolutely fantastic. The town was packed. The diehards who wanted to watch the whole match got settled in the bar of their choice early in the evening. We wandered around to get the atmosphere, came back to the apartment to watch some of the match, then went back out to savour the victory celebrations. If anyone decided to import the vuvuzela into Spain, he probably lost money as the Spanish need no lessons in making noise.

Another fortuitous bit of timing was the local fiesta. It started with free beer and sardines on the first evening but we did not have the patience to queue for them. The main event the next day was a procession, where the seamen’s confraternity, barefoot, carried the statue of the Virgin (pictured below) around the village. They then took her out to sea in a special boat and landed her back in the bay right under our apartment. The best seats in the house! Of course, being Spanish, the operation had to be carried out at night, with noise and fire. A bar was set up on the Balcón. Without the slightest shred of irony, beer was served under the images of Jesus crowned with thorns and the sorrowing Virgin weeping tears of blood. Only in Spain.

We have had three fantastic holidays in Nerja and I am only telling you about them because we are going elsewhere this year. We could hardly top the experience of the fiesta and the World Cup, so that has provided a natural break. So it’s off to Austria this summer, to the lakes and mountains of the Salzburger Land. But I’ve feeling we’ve not seen the last of Nerja...


First published in VISA 96 (Apr 2011)


 

Barcelona from A(rt) to Z(oo)

by Helen Matthews

The Plaça Catalunya is the terminus of the airport bus and the arrival point of many visitors to Barcelona. From here it is possible to stroll down the series of avenues known as Las Ramblas to the Columbus monument and the sea. If, that is, you do not get distracted by the bird market, the flower market, the artists or the living statues along the way, as we did.

There was quite an epidemic of living statues in the city, from grey, traditional statues, to clowns, robots, mummies and a green painted pixie (or alien). There have to be better ways to earn a living than painting yourself white and standing still all day, but it must be quite lucrative for so many of them to do it. In addition to the living sculptures, Barcelona is also adorned by modern sculptures; the result of a public sculpture programme to brighten up the city for the 1992 Olympics.

Our first port of call in a city famed for its art and architecture was, naturally, the zoo. Barcelona zoo is famous for its albino gorilla, known as Snowflake, but we were more interested in the pair of rare hyacinth macaws. For those who are concerned about the morality of zoos, I can only observe that Barcelona zoo appears to be well run, and to have conservation, rather than spectacle, as its main priority.

Having visited the zoo, we turned to the artistic delights of Barcelona. The Museu Picasso is one of those museums that guidebooks tell you is worth visiting, even if you are not interested in the art, simply for the building alone. There is a certain justification for this, for the museum is situated in two fifteenth-century palaces in Barcelona’s Gothic quarter. Unsurprisingly, since the artist lived in Barcelona between the ages of 14 and 23, the collection is strongest on his early years. However, for me the most interesting part was the series of paintings based on interpretations of Velázquez’s Las Meninas, which become increasingly abstract, so that it becomes quite difficult to spot the dog, let alone the children.

Before coming to Barcelona I had heard a lot about La Sagrada Familia, the huge unfinished church designed by Gaudí. This is not to be confused with the Cathedral, in the old town, which is gothic, dating mostly from the 13th and 14th centuries. Its principal curiosity is the gaggle of geese that live quite happily in its cloister. There is also a carving of Wilfred the Hairy on one of its portals.

Wilfred the Hairy (Guifré el Pelós) unified Catalonia in the Dark Ages, a sort of Catalan Alfred the Great. He was Count of Barcelona in the ninth century, and was fittingly a contemporary, and nominally a subject, of the Carolingian emperor Charles the Bald. Disappointingly, some historians now question whether or not he actually was hairy, or whether his soubriquet became misinterpreted over time (rather like the argument about whether Ethelred was unready or not).

Unfortunately, there are few traces of the hirsute one to be found in modern Barcelona and his tomb is in the church of Santa Maria del Ripoll in the north of Catalonia. A suitably hairy portrayal of Wilfred can be seen on one of the portals of the Cathedral, killing a dragon. Unlike St George, who also adorns the portal, Wilfred needs no armour to protect him.

In the square outside the cathedral we saw a procession of schoolchildren in fancy dress and yet more living statues. I felt rather sorry for the Egyptian mummy. He was supposed to be fully encased in gold lycra, but he had trouble doing it up properly at the back, so that there was a clear view of his vest and shorts. I really wanted to go and tuck him in, but fortunately managed to resist the temptation. 

We spent the next day visiting some of the famous buildings designed by Gaudí, starting with the Park Guëll. This was not designed to be a park, but an upmarket housing development, for which Gaudí was commissioned to provide the infrastructure, which included entrance lodges, a marketplace and square, and a mosaic lizard fountain. In the event, only two of the building plots were developed, and the site became a park. One of the houses is now a Gaudí museum.

On Saturday and Sundays, between 10am - 2.00pm, there is an ‘art exhibition’ or gathering of artists displaying their wares. For those like us who collect pictures as souvenirs of our travels, this could prove costly. It is also not entirely practical to purchase a large watercolour painting on a somewhat rainy day.
Casa Milà, also known as La Pedrera (the stone quarry), is an apartment building with a distinctive, curvy, organic-looking façade. It is possible to go in and see one of the apartments furnished in the contemporary style and to go up to the roof terrace to have a close up view of the weirdly shaped chimney pots. The final Gaudí site we visited was the (in)famous Sagrada Familia. This was unfinished at the time of Gaudí’s death, although work is now taking place to complete it.

Our first view was of the newer façade, depicting the Passion, which looked fairly normal. Having passed through the building, we came upon Gaudí’s original façade, depicting the Nativity. This, according to my husband, resembled “the gaping maw of hell”, though I am not sure how he was able to recognise it. It is certainly unusual. The decoration is very organic and flowing in appearance. As well as the figures of the Holy family, there are all sorts of creatures, even a turkey, and at the top there is something which looked to me like a Christmas tree with doves on it.

The Park Guëll, with its strange buildings and vistas, had reminded me slightly of Portmeirion. The following day we visited the Poble Espanyol - an artificial ‘village’ created for the Universal Exhibition of 1929, containing examples of architecture from each region of Spain. This was even more like Portmeirion.

Now the buildings house souvenir shops, exhibitions and cafes, including an exhibition of fans, with an alarming commentary: “Foamy specimen and of manual prestige, the fate, whatever ends be in its use in feminine presdigitation, still conserves its suprahistorical charm of fascinating manufacture...”. The central square is often used for performances and concerts. We left hurriedly as a country and western group started to perform.

The Poble Espanyol is on the Montjuïc hill, and it is a relatively short walk from here to the Olympic area. Here we saw the stadium, already looking rather sad and neglected, and the very space-age looking Palau d’Esports Sant Jordi. Further down the road was the Fundació Miró, founded by the artist Joan Miró, as a centre for study and experimentation in contemporary art. Although I am a bit sceptical about some modern art, especially of the unmade bed variety, I found this interesting, particularly the mercury fountain. My husband, who is even more sceptical than I, declared that one or two of the exhibits were ‘a load of old nonsense’, but even he was fascinated by the brightly-coloured sculptures on the terrace, which were figures made from unusual objects.

To return from Montjuïc to the city centre, there is a choice of funicular or a cable car, which takes you down to the harbour. The cable car delivered us to the vicinity of the harbour fish restaurants just in time for a leisurely Sunday lunch of suqets de pescadoi (fish stew) followed by a caramel fruit dessert.

There is a huge choice of food in Barcelona. Seafood paella, chicken paella, mixed seafood and chicken paella, vegetarian paella and black paella made with squid ink are widely available. In addition, there are a huge range of tapas, and local specialities, such as the aforementioned suqets de pescadoi and bullabesa, a fish soup. The most ubiquitous dessert is crema catalana, a type of crème brulée, closely followed by what was described as ‘heavenly pudding’, a sort of sweet terrine, with a caramel topping. The fruit version of this is particularly delicious.

I would thoroughly recommend Barcelona for a short break, but one word of warning: it seems to be an extremely popular venue for student visits. All the colleges in my area seemed to be having field trips there at the time of our visit.


First published in VISA issue 41(summer 2001)

Bosch, Pig's Ears and Tripe

By Helen Matthews

There are two ways of tackling a short city break. One is to rush around, aiming to see as many of the 'sights' as possible in the time available. The other is to try to see just one or two attractions in depth and spend some time soaking up the atmosphere. I have in my time tried the former (my record was Vienna in 3 hours on the way home from Hungary), but on the whole prefer the latter.

Fortunately, the must-see parts of Madrid are located in a compact area. The main art museums (the Prado, Thyssen and Reina Sofia) are all near one another, and approximately 15 minutes walk from the Plaza Mayor and the Puerta del Sol. The Royal Palace is approximately the same distance from the Puerta del Sol in the opposite direction. As we were based in a central hotel we were able to explore the city mostly on foot. For more distant journeys the Madrid metro is new, clean, fast and cheap. A ticket valid for ten journeys (including travel to or from the airport) costs €5.

Our short last-minute break in Madrid gave us approximately 48 hours in the city. Arriving early on Friday afternoon from a typically English summer, our first port of call was the Retiro Park, situated not far from the Prado. Originally the grounds of the Buen Retiro Palace, the park was opened to the public in 1868. In addition to the usual trees, lakes and refreshment kiosks, the park contains a couple of interesting buildings that are now outposts of the Reina Sofia museum of modern art: the Palacio de Velázquez and the Palacio de Cristal. The latter has the advantage of being built primarily of glass, so that it is possible to make an informed decision as to whether it is worth paying to enter the exhibition.

The state museums, which include the Prado and the Reina Sofia are free on Saturday afternoons and Sundays, so we decided to visit the Thyssen museum, which is not free (tickets cost around €6), on Saturday morning. This museum is based on the private collection of Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza, and includes works from the Renaissance to modern work, including Picasso and Roy Lichtenstein. The collection clearly demonstrates the Baron's personal taste - he seems to have been particularly fond of lions. The Thyssen also has an excellent café in the basement, which serves very good chocolate cake.

It would probably have been sensible, as we had so little time in Madrid, to visit the neighbouring museums one after another, since they are so close. However, we felt the need for a break from art, and took the metro to the Casa del Campo park on the other side of Madrid. This large (4,500 acre) park contains a funfair and a zoo. The latter has free-flying parrot displays, but judging from the flock of parakeets we saw in a tree shortly after leaving the metro station, they have not quite mastered the art of training them to come back.

Since the museums are open until 7.00 p.m, we had time to return to the centre of Madrid to visit the Prado.

Prado

Despite the free admission, the museum was not too crowded and it was possible to see even the most famous exhibits properly. The Prado displays the Spanish royal collection, and is particularly strong in works by Velázquez and Goya. The highlights of the collection include Las Meninas by Velázquez and The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch. If I had not read this in my guidebook before starting my visit, I would have been able to work it out from the number of different articles bearing these images that were on sale in the obligatory gift shop, even down to reproductions in chocolate.

On Sunday morning we strolled in the other direction from our hotel, through the Puerta del Sol, which is supposed to be the exact centre of Madrid, and the Plaza Mayor, the main square, ending up at the Royal Palace. The entry fee for the latter, at €6, compares extremely well with Buckingham Palace and includes entrance to the armoury and pharmacy as well as the state rooms of the palace. The state rooms are lavishly decorated, but I was particularly fascinated by the contrast between the ornate throne room and the little billiard room that was also part of the tour. There is also a room where the royal family used to assemble on Sunday afternoons to watch films. Adjacent to the Royal Palace is the Catedral de la Almudena, completed only in 1993.

One of the advantages of Spain for short breaks is that rather than going to just one restaurant for your evening meal, you can sample a variety of different eating places and dishes by going on a tapas crawl. This is not necessarily cheaper than eating in a restaurant, but is more interesting. In a city where the locals would not dream of eating dinner before 9 or 10 p.m. it also allows you to satisfy hunger pangs at an earlier hour. We found that the Plaza Santa Ana is a good place to start. We tried some fairly standard tapas, such as croquettes and potatoes with peppers and chorizo, and also one or two local specialities. Be warned: many of the local specialities in Madrid involve offal. We tried pigs' ears, which tasted (unremarkably) of bacon, but were rather fatty for our taste, and tripe, which was cooked with chorizo, and so tasted primarily of spicy sausage. Grilled prawns served in a sizzling garlicky oil were excellent. On the Saturday night our crawl ended in the Plaza Mayor, where we were treated to a concert by what appeared to be the Spanish answer to Riverdance. Despite (or because of) the bagpipes, this generated a something of a crowd. Until then I had been wondering where everyone was for Madrid seemed incredibly quiet for a European capital.

On reflection afterwards, I realised that in the space of 48 hours we had managed to visit 2 parks, 2 famous city spaces, two museums, a palace and a zoo and yet we had seen them at our own pace and the weekend had not seemed particularly rushed.


First published in VISA issue 47 (autumn 2002)